Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Last summer, my family and I made a trip to Europe. It took one month, and I saw seven different countries. Before we could start the trip by car, there were many formalities. Turkish citizens will know about which formalities I am talking about - the non-Turks will know when they read on!
First, we went to Greece, then to Venice, Italy, by ship. We continued with Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain, respectively. I hadn't seen these countries before - with exception of Germany and Greece; and so it was fun to discover  new places. I have always wanted to travel around the world, and this trip was the beginning of it. I am 16 now, and I am determined that I will travel much more, and see the world.
Some people might say, "Why on earth should I go on holidays and spend money, if I can stay at my sweet home and relax?" And others, now it is getting interesting for the non-Turks, may think: How can you afford that much time and money only to stay a few weeks abroad? Turkish people are required to have a visa when they want to visit a country. Without a passport you don't get a visa - and without guarantees like bankbooks and land registers, you won't get that visa. If you think that this is all you need, you are wrong: You need to buy a health-insurance - no insurance, no visa! All in all, my father said, we had to pay about 200 Euros each before even taking one single step out of Turkey. And I am not mentioning all the problems we had!
Now back to the people who would not understand all that trouble only to see some foreign countries. When we were planning our trip to Europe, I was one of them. I was thinking  "OK, maybe we will see nice new places, but we will spend a lot of money." So how has my opinion changed?
There' s always a difference between "before" and "after". And if you want to judge over some certain issue, you must consider this. If you haven't ever traveled abroad, and if you haven't ever seen lots of places, you can't really know how it feels to travel. Traveling around the world makes you a different person, and it also makes you happy. And honestly, you won't remember the money you have spent, and the trouble you had - but I do remember the places I go, I can share my memories with my friends, and I am even using them in my English class.
Seeing so many places, and meeting new cultures and people was a fantastic experience in my life. I only recommend to everyone to go on a trip like I did last summer. It's really a great experience. Seeing the world will make you happy as it made me happy. If you still don't believe me, you should just try and see.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

From Carnac, we went to La Rochelle. On the way to La Rochelle we stopped in Nantes. In Nantes, we saw the Turkish consulate. Nantes is the sixth largest city in France.





Saturday, April 18, 2009

After Saint Malo, we went to Carnac and La Trinité sur Mer. Carnac and Trinité sur Mer are very close to each other. The hotels in Carnac were too expensive, so we stayed in a hotel in La Trinité sur Mer. The towns are both beautiful. Carnac is known for the Carnac stones and for its beaches. La Trinité sur Mer is a port town and there are many seafood restaurants. The town is also known for its water-sport competitions. 

The standing stones in Carnac:



The beach of Carnac:




La Trinité sur Mer:



Tuesday, April 14, 2009

In this post, I will write my English homework. My homework is to answer the question "What would you like to be famous for?"

I would like to be famous for being a musician. I love music. I like to be creative and making music needs creativeness. You can combine different sounds and every time a new music comes out, it's like inventing something. It' fun.
Music makes people happy. Music moves everyone. Life would be boring without music. Music makes me feel better, and gives me hope. It also makes me feel free.
Music is good for the soul, it is like an outburst of the soul. It is a universal language. Making music helps you to see many points of views of life or any other thing. 
I would like to be in a band. Being in a band would be really great. You would meet new people and be happier, I think. And every time you practice with your band, you would forget all the other things and just relax. 

Friday, April 10, 2009

After Saint Michel, we went to Saint-Malo. St. Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. 
St. Malo is a great place, it's really beautiful. We walked on the beach, it is very long and beautiful and its sand shines like gold. 
Behind St. Malo's gate there is a cute city. There are painters who draw your portraits. Saint-Malo has one of the highest concentration of sea food restaurants in Europe.









St. Malo's main gate:


Sunday, April 5, 2009

After Monet's house, we went to Villers sur Mer, in Normandy. It was such a nice town, it was full of colorful flowers. But the weather was very cold.
The meridional of Greenwich passes through Villers sur Mer. 





In Villers sur Mer, we saw buffalos!!! :)



We stayed here for two days. Then, we continued to Mont Saint-Michel. Le Mont Saint-Michel is a small rocky tidal island in Normandy. It is a very interesting place. There are small shops, restaurants and narrow streets in it.